When it comes to selling used agriculture equipment and construction equipment, it takes more than posting a listing on IronPlanet's website to get the job done. Having pictures and an official inspection report certainly increase the odds of selling an item, but if no one knows it's available the chance of getting bidders interested is much slimmer. In order to ensure the right buyers know an item they might be interested in is available, IronPlanet has a number of marketing strategies in place to reach a global audience.
1. Online advertising
IronPlanet advertises its sales and auction items on a number of websites that are frequented by individuals involved in construction, agriculture, mining and other industries that require heavy machinery and equipment. This increases the odds that those who might be interested in buying used equipment will find out about the sales and visit the website
2. Print advertising
While it may seem like everything is done online these days, there are still newspapers and magazines that cater to industry-specific clientele. IronPlanet advertises listings and Featured Auctions in these publications, which increases visibility to an audience that may not be spending much time online.
3. Search engine crawling
Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, crawl other websites in order to provide the most up-to-date information in search results. Since IronPlanet's website is visited by thousands of users every day, the page is constantly being crawled, ensuring auction listings will appear high in the result lists, thus providing better visibility.
4. Email campaigns
Ironplanet customers receive regular email updates from the online auction site, alerting them of upcoming Featured Auctions, deals and promotions. Not only are these broad-based emails sent out regularly, but IronPlanet uses information provided by its users to determine what they're looking for. The company then compiles data about available items that match what buyers are looking for to make sure potential bidders know when the goods they want are being sold.
5. Targeted soliciting
In addition to sending out mass email advertisements to potential buyers, IronPlanet's sales team also works to solicit bids from individual users. Based on equipment searches and Watch and Needs Lists, the company can alert buyers when the goods they want become available, increasing the odds that they will visit the site and potentially place bids.
Marketing is a key aspect of increasing the chances of selling used equipment and getting the most money for a sale. IronPlanet includes these services free of charge for sellers, who are also allowed to market their listings themselves. They may not, however, advertise one sale item in the description or list information for other goods they are auctioning off, nor can they use their auction listing as a venue to advertise their services. Should the equipment be altered or damaged in any way after it has been listed, the seller must notify IronPlanet immediately, and they may be required to have the item inspected again in order to accurately update the listing information.
